Day Eighty-Six

Tuesdays are always sooo long. They aren't the beginning of the week and they aren't the end of the week, and I also have four two hour classes, and nothing to look forward to afterwards except the loving pillow of my bed and spanish dinner.  Finals are rapidly approaching and so is Semana Santa and Feria.

The tourists have arrived.  I've realized that since I've been living here for so long, I now consider myself a resident.  Not a native, that would be silly. But at least a resident and no longer a tourist/student that doesnt know what she's doing with her life. And because of this, the tourists are getting on my last nerve.  When I'm in a hurry to class, they are sauntering along in the middle of the road which means I cant get around them (keep in mind the roads are only two meters wide in some places..) They stop unexpectedly in places that are clearly not meant for stopping, and the are creating serious congestion in the center of the city. But I guess thats what you get for living in a place as beautiful as Sevilla.

Heres ten ways to accurately spot a tourist:
1. are they wearing tennis shoes?
2. do they have anything that resembles a fanny pack?
3. are they wearing a floppy hat?
4. are the men in shorts and/or any type of sandals?
5. are the women wearing tank tops with shorts?
6. are they carrying their purses/bags not in front of their bodies?
7. are they staring at a map with a confused look on their faces?
8. do they stop and talk to the gypsies? (bad plan. never do it!)
9. are they walking with a purpose or are they sauntering along?
10. do they talk wayyy to loudly to the store clerk in hopes that if they just yell a little louder he will understand what they're saying?

Picture of the day 1: how many can you spot in this line?

Picture of the day 2: Semana Santa = a REALLY big deal.

Day Eighty-Five

So about that staying out till five yesterday...? and having to volunteer at eight which means leaving my house at six fifty in the morning... yeah. bad plan. But overall not a bad day, just a lot of homework to get done and projects to figure out. As well as travel plans to make!

Picture of the day: ran across this on the way to the cafe tonight.. these are ice cream flavors, Kinder=the German word for child/children.. thats an ice cream flavor?!

Day Eighty-Four

Got home at five.

Woke up at nine.

Left the hotel at ten.

Rode in the bus for 7 hours..

Got home to Sevilla at six-ish

ahh Rest.

Picture of the day: although not actually taken today, its pretty. and I like it.

Day Eighty-Three

Got home too late.. and had to get up too early.  After breakfast at nine we again piled onto our beloved bus and rode out to the little town of Sintra, which is about half an hour outside of the city.  Sintra is a little community on the top of a hill that overlooks Lisbon and is probably only in existence because of the castle that is there.  Which we visited.  After we got off our bus in Sintra, we were then coerced into getting onto the city bus to ride up to the top of a mountain.. on the most windey road I've ever experienced, which was amplified by the fact that I had to ride standing up the whole time, and its never been my forte to balance well on moving busses.. SO up we went to the top of this mountain where we finally reached the Castle... well kind of.. we still had to hike up another small mountain to get to it since the bus couldn't run up there.  

It was fantastic! kind of a mixture of a whole bunch of different styles and colors, not quite how you would imagine a normal castle.. One of the very first things our guide says as we're all admiring the giant intricate building is "don't get too excited, this is just the 'summer home'." ...oh yeah, I have a summer home just like this one back home.. what?!  One of the different and interesting things about this castle in particular is that instead of wandering through it and trying to figure out what each room is actually supposed to be, this one is furnished so when you walk through you can actually see what it might have looked like.

After we hiked back down the hill, rode the bus back down the cliff, and got some lunch, we were off to part two of the day.  We were traveling with two interest groups this weekend mine and another one, so for the second part we split up and dropped the other interest group off in some random park along the way.. but we continued on to the 1998 Expo.  Unlike the Sevilla expo which is just a cluster of random buildings and semi-cool bridges, this expo included an aquarium, a tram like thing that took us over the water, and an OMSI like museum. TOTALLY FUN! so we spend the whole afternoon just re-living our youth.. riding the tram and playing with all the science experiments and looking at fish.

Finally we went back to the hotel where my friends and I decided to order chinese food and watch Dirty Dancing Havana Nights before another night of exploring the city.  Chinese food was definitely a success, after which we all got ready and headed out for the night once more.  This time we went to the bar area of the city but ended up catching a cab to the beach to a club.. one of my friends bribed our way in through the doorman and we were good to go!

Picture of the day 1: photo op in the castle!

Picture of the day 2: I mean... don't get too excited.. it is after all JUST the "summer home"...

Picture of the day 3: Sevilla y Las Americas Grupo de Interés 

Picture of the day 4: riding on the tram at the Expo

Day Eighty-Two

Lisbon here we come!! This weekend I'm off to Lisbon, Portugal with my interest group.  We got on the bus bright and early for the seven hour (ish) drive and got to the hotel around two.  After grabbing some lunch at a nearby cafe (which we ended getting for free because the guy liked us) we went to La Universidad Nova, and listened to a presentation.. not quite sure how that fit into our interest group topic which is Sevilla y Las Americas.. but we went with it anyway.

Then we got a city tour.  All fifty-ish of us piled off the bus into a central plaza and were herded around the city.  Although being in a giant tour group is super awkward, the city was gorgeous and much more european and historical that I had anticipated.  I dont know why, but for some reason when I think of Portugal I don't associate it with Europe.  I kind of think of it as its own thing. Its attached to Europe, but in my mind it doesnt have a history like Spain or France or Germany do.. But today I actually got to see its history, and it finally found its place in my brain with the rest of Europe.

We walked up to Barrio Alto, which is literally what its name means Barrio Alto=High Neighborhood, and its literally a neighborhood on the top of a hill in the city.  But from there we could see out over the port and the city.  Its surprising how much Lisbon looks like San Fransisco.. its built on hills and is definitely a city, but still has lots of greenery, and it also has the same type of cute colored buildings everywhere.  After the tour it was time for dinner and the girls and I went back to Barrio Alto to find something tasty.

When we got back to the hotel we decided to go out and explore the nightlife a bit, so we got a little bit glamorous and first made our way to the roof of the hotel where there was a bar, and then headed out on the town around one.  What we weren't expecting was Cadiz Carnival round two (except less gross and minus the costumes.)  Everyone was in the streets and we literally had to hold hands to walk through the crowd and not get separated.  Overall it was a pretty good night except for the fact that someones camera got stolen. boo. but we went to a reggaeton bar!

Picture of the day 1: View from Barrio Alto

Picture of the day 2: Another reason it looks like San Fran.. its got cable cars

Picture of the day 3: dinner with the girlies

Day Eighty-One

Already Thursday?? that means that two papers were due.. and I had to pack for Lisbon.. and I had to clean my room.  Well I didn't have to. but I did. After class I went to get ice cream at a place called Rayas which is the best ice cream in Sevilla.  And thats not just my opinion. its a true statement, its in tour books.  But the funny part is that we just ran into it accidentally one day and found out later that its a little bit famous.

Then it was home to do homework, pack and clean.  Did I go to bed until 4 am? not so much.

Picture of the day: I cleaned off my desk (mostly) and stood all my cards and things up so that I can look at them every day!

Day Eighty

Wednesday = Presentation number two. It was all advice about traveling in Europe, and was pretty entertaining if I do say so myself.  Thats basically it for today..

Picture of the day: I got new shoes! this is only exciting because I rarely buy things for myself here (apart from food and traveling) so I'm excited.

Day Seventy-Nine

Tuesday = Presentation number one. done and done. it was for psychology of learning a second language and about the different kinds of motivation people have. pretty sweet.  So after class today Hannah and I went to buy some bus tickets and low and behold we found orks. They were just hanging out at the bus station... on roller skates.. so clearly it was necessary to take a picture with them.. We're still not sure what exactly their purpose was, but they were pretty nice guys.

Picture of the day: ORKS!! (well thats what I decided they were.)

Day Seventy-Eight

Monday's are killer. I have to get up at o'dark thirty to go to the school where I help serve breakfast, which is particularly hard when you get home at one am from Mallorca.  BUT on the bright side, I made it through.  This week is super hectic though which explains the picture below.  I've got two presentations, and two papers to write all before Thursday. Bad plan.

Picture of the day: although I didn't actually take this picture, I am using it in one of my presentations for this week about motivation.  Which is exactly what I need right now.  Its reached the point in the semester where no one wants to do anything, and all the assignments are starting to pile up because finals are rapidly approaching.

Day Seventy-Seven

Sunday oh Sunday.. time to go home.. After checking out of the hotel we made a small habitat in a nearby cafe and stayed there for the majority of the day. We thought about going to the beach, but when we got up this morning it was a bit drizzley outside.. so that was a no go. Instead we shopped for souvenirs and ate treats and eventually headed to the airport back to Sevilla.

Picture of the day 1: just chillin outisde the grocery store with all of our luggage

Picture of the day 2: best market/grocery store ever.

Day Seventy-Six

Today was essentially a repeat of yesterday.  We slept in and then went to the beach. Today however we went to our cute cove! I mean, who doesn't love a cove? there were some topless women there.. but what can you do?

We played in the water, Gabby built a "shelter," Hannah tried to kill the shelter, Carol got things thrown at her constantly, and I caught in the middle of the chaos.  Good times.

We went back and ate our pasta for dinner again and then got ready to go out to the tiny bar across the street.  The bar consisted of one scottish man that owns it, his daughter who was the bartender for most of the night, an elderly couple, and a drunk man playing pool who was convinced that basketball was fútbol, and us.  Despite these odds, we had a blast playing games and watching who wants to be a millionaire.. the british mothers day edition.

Picture of the day 1: view of our cove from within

Picture of the day 2: it was chilly.. but definitely worth it

Picture of the day 3: Gabby with her "shelter".. yeah she's an engineering major.. and Hannah plotting in the background

Picture of the day 4: Scottish pub.. in Mallorca..?

Day Seventy-Five

Since we had absolutely no plans for this weekend/trip we decided it would be nice to sleep in a bit and then just head to the beach. So thats exactly what we did.  We leisurely got ready and got to the beach at about one.  We spend all afternoon just lounging around in the sand, and playing in the water (which wasn't quite warm enough to be playing in yet).

Mallorca is beautiful.  The water is so clear that I could see each and every one of my toes when I was in waist deep water, it sparkles wonderfully in the sun, and looks just like paradise.  Probably because it is.  We found a great little cove right next to our hotel, but decided to save that one for tomorrow and headed to the regular beach instead.

After we got home from the beach we went to the grocery store and bought pasta and dinner makings instead of going out to dinner.  It was SO nice to make our own food for once. Not that I don't love living with Dioni, who does everything for me, but its definitely strange. I'm starting to miss doing things like the dishes.. and when and what I want to eat.  The culture in Spain is just so drastically different than the US that sometimes it still throws me for a loop. Like the fact that "kids" live with their parents until they are about thirty, the average age for a first job is 25, and its not uncommon for their moms to do their laundry, cook for them, and clean their rooms until they move out.

Anyway, we made our own dinner, had a small party in our hotel room in the process and watched movies! very successful day!

Picture of the day 1: The cove next to our hotel!

Picture of the day 2: 

"what are you going to swim in?"

"my duh-duh duh-duh"

"your what..?"

"my DUH-DUH DUH-DUH"

-Blue Crush (my inspiration in this picture.)

Picture of the day 3: Dinner party for four